Former Police Chief Speaks About Her Arrest by Local Sheriff's Office

A former Southeast Kansas police chief who was arrested by the local sheriff's office says she now fears for her well-being. The Allen County Sheriff's Office was trying to execute an arrest warrant for David Wright, who is a pastor and lives in a church with his wife, Ashley. David used to be a police chief in Texas, and officials there say he didn't turn in his badge, resulting in a misdemeanor charge. Ashley and David dispute this charge.

We sat down with Ashley, who used to be the police chief of LaHarpe, about why she wouldn't let local officials arrest her husband. Ashley ended up being arrested for interfering with an arrest.

Allen County Sheriff Bryan Murphy says Ashley had ample opportunity to let deputies into her home to arrest David. Murphy says his deputies were just the middle men to enforce the warrant issued out of Texas.

"It just didn't make sense how they came shortly after some events in the county had been uncovered," says Ashley.

Ashley claims some City officials and Murphy were upset that her K-9 smelled drugs in City vehicles, and those officials and Murphy wanted to sabotage investigations.

"The cases she's working? I had no knowledge of that," says Murphy.

Deputy body cam footage shows Ashley standing in the doorway of her home.

"For the safety of everyone involved, I was just trying to figure out what was going on," says Ashley.

"It's 'base cop 101.' If you think it's a bad warrant, you don't argue with it. You go and let the judge figure it out," says Murphy.

"I don't feel I should have been arrested, and I shouldn't have been so aggressively arrested," says Ashley.

"I do fear that further retaliation will come after this interview," says Ashley.

"This isn't personal, it's our job. No matter if it was her or the pope, it is what it is and if you don't let us do our job, then you get to come to our facility for a short period of time for a stay," says Murphy.

David was extradited to Texas, but has since bonded out and is back in LaHarpe.